Police, fire and military personnel are often forced to enter dangerous situations blindly, not knowing what they will find inside. A wide range of expensive camera and audio technologies have been developed to help gather accurate intelligence information. Pittsburgh-based Mobile Fusion saw this as an opportunity to combine vital data-gathering needs into one cost-effective, customizable device that is the same size and shape as a softball.

By literally throwing or launching a Mobile Fusion ball into a hazardous situation, rescue and security professionals can receive detailed wireless information—video, sound, motion, heat and more—before they enter the area.

With the Mobile Fusion ball, rescue and security professionals can get detailed information—in real time—before they enter a potentially hazardous area. "By literally throwing or launching a Mobile Fusion ball into a building or other area, you can get video, audio, motion and other information about what's going on before entering," says Mark DeSantis, president. Results can be monitored remotely on a laptop or handheld device.

The ball can be tuned to any kind of condition—night vision for dark areas, or sensitive audio to pick up small noises. In addition to avoiding dangerous situations, the ball can also be used in rescues, such as finding a child trapped in a well. "And because the battery lasts for up to 10 days, you can drop the ball in an area and use it as a recording device to monitor things like traffic for an extended period of time."

Born in a Bar
The Mobile Fusion ball concept was born in a bar over a few beers. "One of the founders of the company was at a conference showing a cube device that had a few cameras on it, and a two-star Army general came up to the booth and said, 'If you can throw these, I'll buy 200'," says De Santis. "That started a conversation between a bunch of us in a bar that night. We said, 'Well, what if we could throw them? What would it take to build it?' And the next thing you know, we raised some money and founded the company."

Part of the money raised to start Mobile Fusion came from an investment from the southwestern office of Ben Franklin Technology Partners, which is known as Innovation Works (IW). "We received $200,000 and another $100,000 is forthcoming," DeSantis says. "But equally important, they connected us with Randy Eager as an executive in residence. He's done an outstanding job for our company. Ben Franklin's advice and counsel was as valuable as the money—if not more so."

Mobile Fusion currently employs six people, and DeSantis foresees it growing to 30 to 60 in the next three years. In addition to the current prototype, the company is looking at different applications for their technology. "We are talking to people who build robots and things that fly," DeSantis says. "And in later versions, you will be able to throw several balls, and they will talk to each other, much like the computer network in your office."

Completely Customizable
The Mobile Fusion prototype is complete and will be marketed perhaps as soon as the third quarter of 2008. Mobile Fusion will offer a menu of 15 different sensors. Users will select the four or five they want installed in their specific device. "The military might want visual, audio, infrared and maybe motion," says DeSantis, "while a HAZMAT team might want a gas detector, visual, infrared and heat," DeSantis says.

Once the Mobile Fusion ball retrieves information from its surroundings, it processes the data and sends it back to a receiving device, such as a laptop, PDA, or something more sophisticated used by the military. "We are not a sensor company," DeSantis says. "We take other company's sensors and package them in a way that is portable and user-friendly."

But technology aside, the ball had to be rugged to survive being thrown like a softball or dropped from as high as several stories. "We don't want potential users to feel this is a highly expensive, fragile device, or they won't use it," DeSantis says. "So we made something a soldier, policeman or fireman—anyone in homeland security—could utilize and feel like it is almost disposable."

 From the October/November 2007 issue